If you missed a buncha important TV last week
Here's some recaps for you ... with a side of satire
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May 31, 2006
May 30, 2006
Chinese Irrelevancy
Umm, disappointing parody ... words don't even come close to describing this
It's So Easy
Rocket Queen
Patience
Paradise City
Nighttrain
November Rain
Sweet Child O' Mine
Out Ta Get Me
You Could Be Mine
Live and Let Die
And the "We Could Use More Bongos" versions of these classics
Welcome to the Bongo
Mr. Bongostone
And you know you can't wait to be in line at midnight later this year (or next ...) for these Chinese Democracy instant classics
And the Double U - Tee - Eff moment of the night ... just a little patience, you'll see what I'm getting at
(All I can say is it don't get more Mad TV/SNL than that ... and this is like, totally GD serious yet teh totally gay)
Next Stop for Billy ... The Surreal Life
There's far and then there's ....
FAR OUT.
This here is far out -- the Secret Wars Re-enactment Society
May 29, 2006
New Yacht Rock
Skewering another icon of my formative years ... after a one month hiatus
May 28, 2006
X3: The Last Stand
I suppose that I have used your mileage may vary (YMMV) more than a few times on this blog. I cannot imagine a better example of what a YMMV experience is -- this movie is almost the quintessential, textbook definition of YMMV
With my head cold, I'm not really feeling up to dissecting this one with spoilery analysis -- instead, I'll throw some observational themes at you in a chop suey, lightning round manner
In a nutshell, the movie is okay ... more on par with the first movie than with the close to perfect X2 ... if you click to go within, it may shape your opinion of the movie, so I would recommend seeing it first (even though I don't spoil anything directly)
So, here's the themes I drew from the movie
- The average viewer with little to no concept of the comic storylines, characters, etc. will have absolutely no problem with this movie -- in fact, they will at very least think the movie is likable or good
- This one is more rhetorical: If you accept my thesis that the trilogy is about Prof. X and Magneto, then you may have problems with ... for lack of better words at the moment, the asymmetry of how things are concluded
- I didn't mind so much the variation from the canon of stories or motivations (or for that matter, explanations) in most of the Marvel movies, because they told a good story and captured the essence of characters ... in X3, I just got the feeling that the movie used characters (even high powered ones like Sentinels, Phoenix, Morlocks, Juggernaut, etc.) like that old game of "army men" -- lots of action, very little character development ... or emotional depth
- I don't think that the problem so much is people seeing it extended an comic IQ, I think the issue with this movie is that it is so much, so on, all the time -- the pacing felt really rushed, the story was mile wide and inch deep -- it's just a very irritating movie (that again, is pretty good) -- but really feels like it went from print to screen in 18 months, a rough draft of what could have been a really great movie if given maybe a handful of months more
Following the above, I don't understand why Fox would
A) Kill the golden goose, ending everything at this movie ... and after you see it, you realize that there's not much to justify a return
B) Try to give the FU to former director Singer or "competing" Superman movie ... holding fast to a deadline set not much after when X2 made its run -- that appears patently stupid to hold on to -- given the alleged script drafts, changes in the director seat, etc.
-OR-
Is this that arrogance that underlies certain established franchises -- essentially that people will see it no matter what kind of product it is
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In the final analysis, it's a summer movie ... big, bad, loud, mostly entertaining. This one will fall into the WHAT IF? bin for the flashes that it showed ... I blame 20CF for leaving things on an okay rather than great note
May 27, 2006
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere: B+
After what seemed like an interminable wait, StE finally dropped here in the 48+2. In a year where we have been piling up beats oriented albums such as Go Team's, Mylo's and J-Dilla's -- this one stands out in terms of its great sense of using old school beats and funk, with incredibly soulful vox from Cee-Lo
This is not to say that it is a retro soul based effort -- I think the best description is experimental, with great soul and funk foundation. If you like things like Handsome Boy Modeling School, Gorillaz, or any of the three artists listed above, this will be a great pickup
The standout tracks are the ubiquitous 'our song of the year' Crazy -- which is just brilliant in its simplicity. Smiley Faces is a great 70s soul jam with snappy clean percussion beats. We really like the blend of crashy cymbals and clean guitar sound of Just A Thought ... the late 80s style rhyming of Feng Shui
All around the album is very solid, the only tracks which are skippable perhaps are the ones really out on the sonic edge, like Transformer and Necromancer. I also didn't really get the appeal of the VF cover "Gone Daddy Gone" ... to me, it was ehhh.
I found that I really liked the funky disco of The Last Time, the epic sounding Storm Coming, the psychedelic funk/soul of Who Cares? and Online ... even the creepy weirdness of Boogie Monster was cool.
What I do find interesting is how these guys have taken over the UK charts -- especially in this era of all this frenetic Arctic Monkeys music in the UK. Good gravy, if Steve L. recommends another AM soundalike on Music Exchange, I think I will discontinue my pod sub ... but thats besides the point.
We recommend this album as a changeup album, I don't think that it will shake out as the best album of the year ... but it is different and enjoyable enough to fill time when you want something that is great to listen to, yet is really off the mainstream
May 26, 2006
Athlete - Live Session EP
Athlete: Live Session EP (iTunes Exclusive): A-
We downloaded this one almost three weeks ago, and it was a nice reminder of how great a band that Athlete is. As good as Tourist is, this stripped down live acoustic one is really a fantastic listen -- five great songs, including probably the three best tracks from the album (Half Light - Tourist - Wires), plus the classic 'Beautiful" from the debut album
All those elements that make Athlete great ... emotional honesty; simple, beautiful, and pleasing arrangements; and great songwriting sensibility are evident here in a simple piano and guitar format. Can't really tell if it is live -- sounds like a MBE-type session ... bottom line, sounds really great, very clean.
It has put the Tourist cd back into rotation for us ... this one is really easy to recommend to people who, of course, love Athlete, but equally worth checking if you like Coldplay, James Blunt, or even U2
May 22, 2006
Catching up
With my ever stacking music podcast subs on iT. After plowing through quite a few ... I have three artists to recommend
From the Morning Becomes Eclectic podcasts, Josh Rouse and Bitter:Sweet.
Josh Rouse has this great album called Subtitlo out, just great laid back, acousti-pop
B:S is a collab of one of the members of SBL and a great F vocalist by the name of Shana, that sounds a lot like SBL, PortisH, Morch, etc., very varied -- the constant is the sultry female vox, that we would expect from these bands.
From the WOXY Lounge-casts, Mason Proper. Really great indie pop rocks ... unfortunately only available right now at CdBaby ... with a few tracks available to d/l off their site and their mysp. But, I know that my readers are familiar with the service, so go check out the podcast ... and buy if you are so moved
May 19, 2006
Is M dead or not?
For those of you who have suffered through the last two, mostly inconsistent seasons of da-oh-see (after what was a pretty classic first season) .... or what I term the "downward spiral / how long will good people endure a bad show", an interview with creator JS about last night's leaked " twist" ... and of course, whether M is dead or not
Here.
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Andddd, I thought the season finale really felt like going through the motions ... I suppose the same could be said about most of the season, several subplots that were pointless, aimless, you pick which one -- there were several ... and missing on plots that could have put some heat back into the show and put some characters over, the real OBVIOUS one is T's baby's father -- big swing and a miss
To give some credit, the show really did re-gel for a tiny moment when Navi and Samaire returned to the show for a 3-story arc -- but who am I to question the wisdom of people who don't understand what is good about their formula ... and I really liked the arc with Nikki R., she really had good chem with Ryno ... and I think Autumn R. is being underutilized, given the pop she gives to her scenes
Yep, it's pretty much gotten to the point where I only enjoy watching when Rachel and Adam have scenes together
May 17, 2006
Ask the economist
Heh ... that's what they are for
Stacking up the gaming consoles over time comparing prices
Here
I suppose, the upshot about this is not that current console prices historically are not out of whack, but that less people find that they are unwilling to dedicate that good chunk of "disposable income" for them
May 16, 2006
What nose cone?
Okay, so as we know the big news of the day is the finally released tape of the D-O-D building being struck
This clip is hilarious because there is a guy insisting he can see the nose cone ... I must totally be blind, check it here... maybe if you believe in something hard enough, you become suggestible ... and see things as they aren't
Here's the full clips from the watchdog group that made the fo-ya in the first place. I don't think this proves to anyone that things happened the way we were told they happened -- it doesn't make the alternative explanation for it credible either
(Oh and for those of you not familiar with the popular alt explanation, go here ... takes about 80 minutes)
At the end of the day, we've seen it before ... now with white blur.
May 13, 2006
4 D Geeq N U
Found this late last week, a bit too busy to play with it for a long time ... it is great if you, like me, were into those Don Bluth coin-op laserdisc vgs like Space Ace, Dragon's Lair, Cobra Command ... or Cliff Hanger (better known as the game based on the Jpnse Lupin series)
Check it out here.
May 6, 2006
National Comic Book Day
Well, as you all know, today is NCBD ... or what some cynical people call Free CBD, because you can get a free comic from participating comic book sellers
I've found a cool, unrealized feature on the Marvel site ... now it is much better than what it was before, free digital comics, some all-time classics, some new ... and of course, you can't complain with the great price of Free-99
Check it out here.
May 2, 2006
Tool: 10,000 Days
When we last left Tool ... I am more amazed it's been five years since the last one. Weighing in at a whopping 75 minutes and with with most songs north of six minutes, again Tool has delivered a musical experience rather than your run of the mill, present day 40 some odd minute album (if you're lucky)
Tool: 10,000 Days: B
Finally one of my favorite bands has delivered new music that rocks ... unfortunately, anyone who listens to it will realize that the album as a whole does not rock hard
Our favorite progressive heavy band basically delivers straight out of the box -- reminding us of how amazingly good they can be, or more precisely, still are ... Vicarious and Jambi are straightforward heavy, classic Tool ... bouncy basslines, machine like precision, great percussion, one of the most emotional voices in music, and great arrangements
The thing that feels stronger on this album is its concept nature. There are a lot of non-traditional music tracks. Some have called this filler and other adjectives to declare mixed reviews. I just think it is par for the course with any Tool album.
For me, I would love for them to have one full 10+ song album with heavy Tool songs ... but that will never happen. So, I play the songs that rock, skip over the experimental stuff ... and smile because in addition to the two tracks mentioned above, The Pot, Rosetta Stoned, and Right in Two are all cool in that uniquely great Tool way. In many ways, the album scatters great music among concepty musical noises and arrangements ... which post-Undertow has been the order of the day. But it is the great music (rather than the great art, concept, or statement) that keeps me coming back to spinning Tool albums happily many years after their initial release
Tool is back, that's a good thing ... I assure you
May 1, 2006
Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior
Well, this is another one from the film fest of two years ago that I wanted to see. Having now seen it, I can't really say I understand what the hype is all about.
Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior: B-
Don't get me wrong, it's a good enough movie, sufficiently entertaining -- probably would make a good rental for one of those nights where you wonder what to do.
The story is fairly traditional asian martial arts fare, the young hero quests to get back an item stolen from his village by motorcycle riding gangsters ... and along the way has to take out tons of flunkies, minor bosses, in order to get to the main boss, and reclaim the item
I thought the opening tree climbing sequence was quite cool where they had like 20 some odd guys start climbing a tree, something that I've never seen in an action film before. It set a nice action tone, but unfortunately that was about the only cool thing that I've never seen before.
I know that many think Tony Jaa will be the next Bruce ... and yes, he does these incredible stunts without wires, like hopping onto and over stuff. The guy is totally athletic, however he lacks that Bruce, Jackie, Gordon L. kind of charisma ... and that ultimately is what kind of makes this movie okay instead of great. His sidekicks are far more animated, funny and entertaining.
The fighting (as well as the acrobatics) are replay shadowed, in that the thing will happen and then instantly replay ... somehow I found this kind of annoying after a while as it cut into the flow of the film. I happen to think that flow is very important to martial arts films, this one had too many cuts to slow drama scenes, plus the replay shadow thing, plus the fights that didn't really set anything up ... there was a fight, and then it was over -- not too much drama because TJ pretty much squashes all his opposition
It was okay, I guess ... and I find that that is about all I have to say.